A new U.S. study recently published in the journal Current Environmental Health Reports has linked high levels of nitrates, desethylatrazine, atrazine and arsenic in drinking water to birth defects. The study highlights that no-one should take the quality of their tap water for granted, especially in the wake of the Flint, Michigan, crisis.
Professor Jean Brender at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Public Health, who has specialised in studying the effects chemicals in water can have on developing foetuses, was the author of the study. She used her own research as well as consulting other similar studies and identified atrazine, arsenic and nitrates as three contaminants in drinking water that may be associated with birth defects, particularly among women in rural areas who primarily drink water from a private well.
Nitrate is the most studied agricultural compound in relation to prenatal exposure and birth defects such as limb deficiencies, neural tube defects, cleft lip and cleft palate. Higher concentrations of atrazine in drinking water have been associated with abdominal defects, gastroschisis, and other defects.
Various studies around the globe have found agricultural compounds such as atrazine and nitrate in drinking water sources as well as mixtures in water supplies. This contamination comes mainly from the use of nitrogen fertilisers but also from municipal waste facilities, badly maintained private septic systems, and livestock operation waste.
According to Bengt Rittri, Founder and Executive Director of Bluewater, a Swedish company that supplyies advanced residential water purifying solutions in China, North America, and Europe, “Both nitrate and atrazine are agricultural compounds that can leech through the soil into drinking water sources, which the report indicates may be putting embryos at risk.â€
Mr. Rittri added that Dr. Brender’s report spotlights the fact that “Water doesn’t need to smell bad to be potentially hazardous. We all need to be alert to the fact that regardless of whether we drink from a private well or public water supply, there is always a risk of drinking water contamination.â€
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